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Bedroom Decorating Ideas: Older Children

Designing rooms for adolescents requires a balance of privacy, function, and plenty of style. With bright colors and vogue furnishings, young adults can stretch out in a space that’s all their own. See how it’s done with these great bedrooms for teens.

Why We Love It
The lively elements of this room look like a lava lamp come to life. By incorporating patterns and textures that move and flow together, this designer has created a space that seems to breathe on its own.

Perfect for a future pop princess, this stylish bedroom exudes imagination. A sheer purple canopy is draped down from a crown of shimmering beads. Colorful paper lanterns add dimension in the corner. The daybed provides a comfy sitting space with plenty of storage below.

Why We Love It
Decorating with lots of bright colors can be difficult. This designer has masterfully incorporated several high-powered tones by tying them together with the lanterns and throw pillows. By choosing a few bright colors and committing to them, this bedroom looks bold but not excessive.

Tucked under the third-floor eaves of this New York home, lovely lavender-toned grasscloth, Italian glass lanterns, and India-inspired fabrics create a feminine space with a dream-like quality.

Why We Love It
Natural light is always better than artificial. A well-placed skylight lets the girl who lives here wake you up naturally with the sun and be lulled you to sleep again under the stars, while illuminating this beautiful space by day.

This bedroom is perfect for sisters who still want a little privacy. Colorful artwork hangs on a wall with storage shelves for books and knickknacks. A headboard also doubles as a bookcase. The shag area rug matches the bedspread as well as the bright reading chair.

Why We Love It
Comfortable communal spaces are hard to come by. In this room, a short wall separates the two halves, leaving space below the ceiling for sunlight—and sisterly conversation.

Young men can feel at home in this room where neutral colors in horizontal stripes complement the window treatments on either side of plantation shutters. The creamy shag carpeting balances an inky leather mobile ottoman, which houses a storage unit underneath.

Why We Love It
It’s easy to scare males away with over-decorating, so they will appreciate the subtlety of the muted hues and sparse patterns of this room. Diamond plate drawers are a nod to a mechanic’s workbench.

Wild rainforests inspire this bedroom, with lime green walls and bursts of bright colors. Large leaves shade a comfy bed with wicker head- and footboards. A hot pink tufted ottoman sits on an electric blue area rug. A rosy desk and rolling chair provide even more spunky color, matching the bed’s floral shams.

Why We Love It
Pretty painted flowers on the walls add to the room’s rainforest theme. The oversized leaves on the walls are a playful nod to nature, while the large windows and high vaulted ceilings bring the magic of the jungle closer to home.

Straight out of a storybook, this beautiful bedroom features all things romantic and feminine. A lovely sheer cream canopy flows over a stately wooden headboard to a lacey coverlet and floral bolster pillow. Soft lavender and cream striped wallpaper extends over the ceiling.

Why We Love It
The dusty blue and gold bed frame is the centerpiece of this room. With its height and dark colors, it may have seemed foreboding without the sheer canopy.

Bright colors reign in this stylish bedroom, a masterful mix of Raj princess and hippie chic. “Indira” fabric from Raoul Textiles covers the walls and ceiling while a tufted ottoman sits at the foot of a romantic canopy bed. On the lively bedspread, intricate stitching and tiny mirrors embroidered on the pillows carry an East-meets-West theme. “Spinnaker” sheers at the windows and around the bed are from Osborne and Little. Busty bombe commodes are from Niermann Weeks.

Why We Love It
A large mirror on the wall combined with the glowing commodes and mirrored pillows help bounce the natural light throughout the room.

A sunny sitting area below a fashion collage adds to the pretty bedroom. A hanging light fixture above the ottoman reflects the water lily essence of the candleholders below.

Why We Love It
The extravagant hues provide a feminine color palette, but it is the fine details that set this room apart. India-inspired patterns influence virtually every fabric, down to the rich texture of the carpet.

Flowery fabrics and watermelon hues play the starring role in this Chicago bedroom. A vibrant toile of acid-green and red livens up the upholstered footboards, bed linens, and lofty window curtains. A collection of whimsical hot air balloon prints hangs on the far wall. Twin beds allow the bedroom to double as a guest room.

Why We Love It
The toile itself is sweet and feminine, yet the wild palette lends pizzazz. Bold colors update a modest pattern with a twist.

Why We Love It
A strong fabric used sparingly has an impact. The mint green of the desk chair and side table from Jonathan Adler beautifully complements the purple hues, making them stand out against the white walls.

This room is ideal for a classical music lover. String instruments appear on the pillow shams as well as in the art above the bed. Blacks and browns contrast nicely with the lighter shades of citrus on the bed and the dusky blue of the walls.

Why We Love It
We especially love this room because of its overhead storage compartment, a romantic nod to a vintage train’s luggage rack and the perfect place to store a bulky guitar or violin.

Bright color takes center stage with electric oranges, hot pinks, and vibrant greens. Sparkly shams and a fuzzy orange bolster pillow rest on top of a green and fuchsia floral bedspread over a tutu-esque bed skirt. Hanging above it all is a regal chandelier with sparkling pink and green shades.

Why We Love It
A deep violet on the walls and ceilings provides a dark backdrop to make these colors pop. The shady hue is expertly balanced by the warm beige carpeting, keeping the room from becoming too dark.

Side-by-side daybeds with dual reading lights provide plenty of lounge space. Shallow wooden shelves line the walls above, with additional storage in pullout drawers below. A toned-down color palette makes this room versatile enough to be used as a spare room when the kids depart for college.

Why We Love It
Teens need space and privacy, and this bedroom also allows for plenty of function. Beds that double as couches means more useful space for homework or just chatting with friends.

Side-by-side daybeds with dual reading lights provide plenty of lounge space. Shallow wooden shelves line the walls above, with additional storage in pullout drawers below. A toned-down color palette makes this room versatile enough to be used as a spare room when the kids depart for college.

Why We Love It
Teens need space and privacy, and this bedroom also allows for plenty of function. Beds that double as couches means more useful space for homework or just chatting with friends.

Why We Love It
The vertical striped walls and flowing canopy bed curtains add height to the ceilings, making the room appear larger. With a wide-open space in the center of the room, it is the perfect hangout place for teenagers.

This boyish bedroom is the perfect place for an aspiring adventurer. An Indonesian bamboo ladder leads to a top bunk alcove, papered by a bumblebee-motif Farrow and Ball wall covering. An oversized cone light hangs above a worktable, surrounded by wicker stools for extra seating.

Why We Love It
In this multitasking bedroom, bunk beds supply the space for sleepovers, while the table can be used for a science project. A sheer curtain hides the board games and television when it’s time for homework.

This gorgeous room is ideal for a princess-in-training. A pillowy bed sits high within a four-poster canopy, a demure stepping stool below to aid in the lofty climb. A sitting area features twin tufted armless chairs upholstered in yellow gingham, matching the sunny window treatments. Natural hardwood floors are covered in a couple of shaggy area rugs.

Why We Love It
Yellow is a fantastic shade to decorate with because it is versatile enough be used throughout a room without seeming like too much of a good thing. In this room, the beautiful golden hues span from the rich honey of the floors to the light canary of the walls.

A little bit of lavender goes a long way in this fanciful bedroom. A creamy canopy with zebra striped interior drapes over a comfy daybed. Green and purple throw pillows make a cozy nest over ivory bed linens, matching a striped ottoman and upholstered desk chair.

Why We Love It
Mixing two distinct color themes is not impossible, as this expertly designed bedroom can attest. The zebra print is confined to the canopy’s interior, allowing hints of black and white to reach the dust ruffle and window treatments. The purple and green stripes peak in the bed pillows and desk chair, while elsewhere the combination is more muted.

Vibrant colors and large-scale patterns give this girls’ bedroom a spirit of unfettered joy. The pink-and-green peony wallpaper partners beautifully with an apple-green-and-white check for window treatments and dust ruffles. A mirrored chest placed between the two beds offers plenty of surface area to share. Plus, its reflective finish doesn’t fight with the room’s bold colors.

Why We Love It
The large print of the wall covering punctuates the space. The wild peonies are evenly balanced with the straight lines of the green gingham. A light quilting on the pink coverlets also helps to soften the walls.

Sisters can share a happy space in this New York City apartment bedroom. A shared bookcase separates two beds, each with a curvaceous turquoise headboard. Blue baubles line the shelves above. The silver damask motif over raspberry walls suggests a sophisticated toile, its oversized pattern balanced with demure floral window panels.

Why We Love It
Adding a dose of shimmer or sheen is a fun way to catch the light and make a room shine. We adore the metallic turquoise fabric of the headboards and dust ruffles, as well as the silver floral pattern on the walls. Surprising sparkles lie in the details as well: the satin upholstered chair, silver photo frames, accents on the desk, and a shiny chandelier.

Mint green walls provide a soft backdrop for the dual twin beds and monogrammed nightstand. Pink and brown mix harmoniously on the beds as well as the desk chair. A niche beyond a decorative arch is a cozy spot for homework.

Why We Love It
Versatility: The hues of this room hint at a playful girl, while the organized desk nook belongs to a studious young woman.